Espen's Thesis

As many of you may or may not know, BlogCampaigning was originally created almost a year ago as part of Espen Skoland's thesis on politics and blogging for his Master of Arts in Journalism and Mass Communications (Honours) at Griffith University, Australia. This site has served as a way for Espen to interact with the online community as he developed his thoughts on the topic of blogs and political campaigning. While it has since grown to include my view points on the PR industry, Web 2.0, and other miscellany as well as the video game theory of Jens, and the work of a few other contributors, the essential goal of the site has remained the same.

Espen is currently putting the finishing touches on the thesis, and he will be making it available online both as a pdf and as a series of posts her on BlogCampaigning.

We are planning on posting the thesis in reverse order (with the last part of the paper posted chronologically first, the first section of the paper published chronologically last). This will, it will show up in the right order when read online and via a feed reader. If anyone has a better suggestion, we are very open to hearing it (please leave a comment, or e-mail me).

As the BlogCampaigning site manager, I'm very excited about this, because I think that this is the first time that a major academic paper has been published in this manner. If anyone wants to prove me wrong on this point, I'll buy them a drink if they come to the Toronto area.

This won't be the end of BlogCampaigning, either. Jens, Espen, and I have discussed how much we enjoy working on the site that we want it go on.

So thank you for checking us out now and then, and we hope you continue to do so even after this online publication of Espen's thesis.

-Parker, BlogCampaigning Site Manager

Around Toronto...

Sorry to all non-Torontonians for getting into the "center of the universe" Toronto mindset . I've only been here a few months and its already happened to me, but that's alright because there is plenty of good stuff happening around town. As Chris points out, Thursday's All Things Are Connected should be a good opportunity for Toronto's young PR folks to get together, network, and learn a bit more about the trade. I expect that I'll see Ed Lee, and maybe few of the other young bloggers there. Maybe this guy will even step out of his Facebook bubble to show his face in meatspace.

About a year or so ago, I read a great short story by this guy, that was written in blog-form, then followed up by a comic. I thought it was a wonderful way to self-publish, and I look forward to seeing his upcoming film, Infest Wisely. Its not exactly PR-related, but definitely looks pretty sweet.

And on that note, I'd like to point out that Labyrinth is a great little book store that has just opened on Bloor street, and that they are using a blog to promote themselves. What a great way to highlight new products as they arrive in store. I'm sure that real enthusiasts can subscribe to the RSS feed. My friend bought some beautiful paintings from local artists there the other day, and I'm hoping to pick some up myself.

Fighting fans can get their fix at my colleague Sean's blog, Superman Punch. He told me that the name of the blog comes from a boxing move or something, but I think it sounds like a great name for a high-alcohol party drink.

And lastly, I don't know what anyone else's plans are for the long weekend, but I've been missing the beautiful waves of Maui and the Gold Coast, so I'm hoping to head to Montreal to do this.

Exciting times!

We at Blog Campaigning are thrilled, as we have found out that the blog will be mentioned in Dave Meerman Scott’s soon to be released book: The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing and Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly.  

Unfortunately we do not know what Meerman Scott has written about Blog Campaigning in his book yet. But judging by the title it has to be something good. We are all looking forward to read what Meerman Scott has to say about the topic that we all take a great interest in.

Thank you, Dave, for taking an interest in our work!

- Espen on behalf of the Blog Campaigning team

BlogCampaigning announces RELAUNCH!

OK, here it is: the new version of BlogCampaigning.

It took more time than we originally thought it would to figure out CSS, but luckily we are blessed with the skills of our excellent editor and site manager, Parker Mason, so the blog should work and look better than ever.

We have, as some of you might have noticed already, gotten a new domain, http://blogcampaigning.com/. The old one is still working, but you might want to change the URL to our new one if you are reading the blog through a feed reader.

We promise to continue to bring you the latest news on how social media are affecting the world of politics, public relations and the marketing industry. And we will continue our work to make this blog a hub for people that are interested in discussing and learning more about online communication in the 21^st century.

We are also hoping to add a few more writers to the team in the coming weeks, so watch out!

Please let us know if you like BlogCampaigning’s new look, hate BlogCampaigning’s new look or have ideas about how we can make the blog better for the purposes we aim to achieve. We still have a few minor housekeeping items to take care of, and it will always be a work in progress

We appreciate your interest.

Best wishes from the BlogCampaigning crew, and thanks for being a part of my education.

Espen Skoland

BlogCampaigning Founder